Opinion
1:23-cv-01554-SAB (PC)
01-03-2024
NARCISO RAMIREZ, Plaintiff, v. C. PFEIFFER, et al. Defendants.
ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO RETURN AMENDED COMPLAINT LODGED ON DECEMBER 26, 2023
(ECF NO. 11)
Plaintiff is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff filed the instant action on November 3, 2023. (ECF No. 1.)
On November 17, 2023, Plaintiff filed a first amended complaint which awaits the Court's requisite screening pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. (ECF No. 10.)
On December 26, 2023, Plaintiff submitted another amended complaint which was lodged by the Court. (ECF No. 11.)
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15, Plaintiff may file one amended complaint without leave (permission) of Court before any defendant has answered your original complaint. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a). In this instance, Plaintiff has exercised his right to amend the complaint by filing a first amended complaint on November 17, 2023, which will be screened in due course. In addition, based on a cursory review of the proposed amended complaint, Plaintiff has added new Defendants and different factual allegations than those presented in the first amended complaint. Further, the alleged events in the proposed amended complaint took place at Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP) which is located in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, venue is improper in this Court. The federal venue statute requires that a civil action, other than one based on diversity jurisdiction, be brought only in “(1) a judicial district where any defendant resides, if all defendants reside in the same State, (2) a judicial district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of the property that is the subject of the action is situated, or (3) a judicial district in which any defendant may be found, if there is no district in which the action may otherwise be brought.” 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). None of the SVSP Defendants named in the proposed amended complaint reside in this district, and the claims arose at SVSP in in Soledad, California, which is located in the Northern District of California. Therefore, Plaintiff's SVSP claims are properly brought in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, not here at this Court in the Eastern District of California. It would be futile for Plaintiff to bring claims arising out of PBSP at this Court, because venue is improper at this Court. Thus, to the extent Plaintiff is seeking to file a new civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, he refile the complaint in the appropriate court.
Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall return the proposed amended complaint lodged on December 26, 2023 (ECF No. 11) to Plaintiff.
IT IS SO ORDERED.